Alton stood before his men outside the silo complex.
"Men…" he looked across the gathered group of soldiers, each of whom he knew intimately and would trust with his life. "I have something important to announce. I'm pretty sure most of you have already guessed what it is," his eyes flashed with suppressed passion, and he took a deep breath before ploughing on.
"I personally, have decided to stay here and join the rebellion. I plan to help these runaway female warriors build an army to defeat the Emperor."
There were a series of exclamations from across his team of guards. A mixture of "yes!", "about time!" and "holy shit!"
"I don't need to tell you, of all people, what kind of risks this endeavour entails. If any of us get caught, it will be a bloody brutal end; death on the battlefield could be considered a very good outcome in comparison...
There is a more than fighting chance though, that this rebellion will succeed. History is written by the victors, as we know, so only success will be kind to us all. It's a path that once set, can't be unmade, and any of you who decide to join up need to have made your peace with losing your life, and the potential dire consequences for your family, of you being a rebel."
He looked them each in the eye to make sure they understood the gravity of that statement.
"We will work to secure all of our families as soon as the fighting kicks off in earnest, but they will be put in the path of danger and hardship by our actions.
I don't plan to try and convince any of you to join me. This decision has to be based on your own conscience, your own particular family situation, and your personal political beliefs.
For me, aside from the brutality of my Uncle's reign, and the repression of women, there's the impossible position for the majority of ordinary people, living in fear, and taxed into poverty. It's not sustainable. It's this disparity in wealth and power that has led to multiple rebellions in the past, some of which we've fought to put down... forced to kill our fellow citizens.
I, personally, feel a burning need to be on the right side of history, and I think this rebellion has the potential... more than the potential… It has to… succeed. It will… succeed!" His voice rose with passion and fire.
"And here I was telling you all I won't try to recruit you," he laughed at himself, and his men joined in.
"Before you make up your minds once and for all, I have one final thing to show you, which is part of why I have the confidence to make the statement that we will succeed."
He whistled, and a tubiàn dragon appeared from around the corner.
"Jesus Fucking Christ!" cursed Niko, drawing his sword.
"What the hell, Commander?" shouted Baer.
"Tubiàn!" yelled Wolf.
"Settle down men," said the commander. "He's on our side. Meet Maback. He's my dragon. Come here big fella," he gestured to the creature, and it thudded over to him on all fours, flickering its tongue in and out as it scented the strange men.
"What's going on Commander?" breathed Han in awe. "You can't ride him, can you?" he said in disbelief.
"Yup," the commander clambered up onto the dragon's back, using its bent legs for support.
He grinned broadly down at them all from his extraordinary perch on the back of a mutant Komodo dragon.
"The dragon riders are back!" proclaimed Cormac, his eyes glowing with excitement as he fist-pumped the air. "How did that happen Commander? No one's been able to ride one since the War."
"Delphi's a descendant of General Chastain," said the commander. "She discovered her ability to control them by accident. They have a hive mind, so she controls them through their leader, Miro, but they'll all answer to their rider underneath Miro's over-arching control."
"Of course. She would be related to General Chastain," said Baer. "The Chastain family are like multi-generation royalty."
"There's one for each of you, should you decide to join the rebellion," Alton whistled, and seven huge dragons ran out from behind the silo where they'd been waiting.
Niko ducked his head in fierce excitement, a wide smile of delight lit up his face as he looked them over, already making his selection.
"This is not meant to pressure you," the commander gestured at the herd of tubiàn. "It's just a pretty big win to fall into the hands of 'dirty rebels' at just the right time," he smiled dangerously, raising his eyebrows.
"This fight is going to be dirty; it's going to be dangerous, it will be hand-to-mouth guerilla fighting until we recruit an army. I can't promise you an easy, fast victory, but I can promise you if we grind it out and operationalise a series of smart strategies, we will get there in the end.
This military team is not some ragtag bunch of villagers from the valleys, this is a group of well-connected elite and royal fighters with a shitload of inside knowledge about the palace and its defences, and intimate knowledge of the defence network across the Island.
I'm afraid I'm going to need answers from all of you this morning. No hard feelings to any of you who plan to return to the Island. We won't stop you. But you need to leave immediately, for obvious reasons."
"I'm in," chimed Baer.
"Me too!" cried Niko and Wolf together.
"No need to tell me now in front of everyone," said the commander, holding up his hand to prevent any more callouts.
"Come to the training room at oh-nine-hundred to take an oath of enlistment. If you're not there, I'll assume you're heading home. You all know where the horses are. Take one and leave now. You can use the girls' boat.
I'd ask you not to disclose more than you have to when you get back to the Island, but I know my Uncle's tactics, so I trust you to do what you have to, dependant on the circumstances you find yourself in…"